100 must-read books for college students

Chapter 50 The Immortal Masterpieces of Economics
Chapter 49 The Immortal Masterpiece of Economics: "The Wealth of Nations"

Schumpeter, a famous contemporary American economist, once commented on the book "The Wealth of Nations": "It is not only the most successful economics book
and, with the possible exception of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, the most successful scientific work ever published. "

Concentrate on writing a masterpiece to come out

Adam Smith (1723-1790), an outstanding representative of British classical political economy and the founder of the theoretical system.he was born
In the family of a customs clerk in Golkerdi, Scotland.

In 1759, he published his famous work "The Theory of Moral Sentiments".The book puts forward the thesis of "invisible hand".on law and politics
handouts.It shows that he has begun to study political economy at this time.

In the summer of 1764, he began to write "A Study of the Nature and Causes of National Wealth" (referred to as "The Wealth of Nations") in Toulouse, France.

draft.

In 1767, he resigned as a private teacher and returned to his hometown to devote himself to writing "The Wealth of Nations". After ten years, he finally published it in 1776.
The representative work "A Study on the Nature and Causes of National Wealth" made him the most famous economist in Britain, and many members of Parliament
He quoted the views of "The Wealth of Nations" in the debate, and even the then British Prime Minister Pitt studied "The Wealth of Nations" carefully. 1776

The first edition appeared in March, and Adam Smith died on July 3, 1790.

Smith's economic theory was produced in the middle of the 18th century, which was the growth period of British capitalism.

Industrial and machine industry transition, with some early machine inventions.Agriculture and domestic and foreign trade also developed rapidly.

The rapidly expanding market demand requires the rapid development of capitalist production.But capitalist production is still largely

It was bound by the remnants of the feudal system and the restrictive policy of mercantilism that was popular for a while.

Mercantilism intuitively emphasizes that wealth is only money, only gold and silver.Physiocratism holds that
products of labor, including means of production and means of subsistence, are wealth, but at the same time money or gold and silver, which are also products of labor, are not regarded as wealth.
It is wealth. Therefore, if Britain wants to successfully develop the capitalist economy, it must have economic freedom, and it must eradicate the feudal system and rebuild

Barriers to the development of capitalist production by a policy of commercialist restrictions.Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" is a full demonstration of capitalism
The book on the necessity of economic freedom was written to meet this need.

Free Economic Theory National Wealth Theory

"The Wealth of Nations" is divided into 5 parts.In the first part, the author focuses on the division of labor and discusses the reasons for the growth of labor productivity and the

The order in which products are distributed to the various classes illuminates questions of exchange, money, value, wages, profit, and rent, which in practice are
The author clarifies the laws of capitalist production, circulation and distribution around how to improve labor productivity; in the second part, the author points out

The amount of capital determines the number of people engaged in productive labor in society. When capital increases, the number of people employed in society will increase, and the products will also increase.

add.This is the author centering on capital, expounding capital, the nature of capital, its composition, accumulation and use, etc.; the third chapter,

The author mainly examines the factors that promote or hinder the growth of national wealth, and discusses the agricultural development of European countries since the collapse of the Roman Empire.
The stifled situation and the role of urban revitalization and commercial development, the economic policies of various countries to develop industries, that is, the economic policies of various countries are studied.
The history of economic development; the fourth chapter, the author narrates the system of political economy, commenting on mercantilism and physiocratism.He fully approved

condemned the mercantilist view of equating money and wealth, the balance of trade theory, and the policy of state domination of foreign trade; Ken

The view that the Physiocrats hold that a country can prosper only under a completely free and completely fair system is "the closest to the true
"Principle", criticizing the Physiocrat's one-sided view that only agriculture is productive, but industry and commerce are not productive. This article also

It is the history of economic theory; the third part is similar to public finance, the author mainly discusses the expenses of the monarch and the state, and the distribution of public revenue.
sources, and the impact of national fiscal and taxation policies on the growth of national wealth, advocating limiting the intervention of the monarch and the state in economic activities
Prediction, the implementation of economic liberalism.

In a nutshell, "The Wealth of Nations" mainly studies the reasons that promote or hinder the development of national wealth, and demonstrates that the capitalist system is better than feudalism.
Establishment
degree can further promote the growth of wealth.This is mainly due to the laissez-faire ideology of human self-interest, that is, the ideology of economic liberalism.

think.He believes that economic freedom is the requirement of "natural order", that is, the law of capitalist development, and it is most in line with people's self-interested nature.
The good of society is best served when each individual is free to pursue his own interest.He opposed the policies of mercantilism,
For state intervention in economic life, it advocates the full realization of economic freedom, that is, free operation, free trade and free competition.this reflects
It met the requirements of the industrial bourgeoisie in the early days of the industrial revolution.

Starting from the perspective of the formation of commodity value, Smith clearly demonstrated that labor is the source of wealth in the preface of the book and the design of the whole book
.There are two ways to increase wealth, one is labor productivity, and the other is labor quantity.Even more important is labor productivity.labor production

The improvement of efficiency mainly depends on the division of labor.

The scope and degree of division of labor are limited by the scope of the market.Money was drawn from barter, and thus came the
coinage system.

Smith’s main contributions to the theory of value are as follows: first, he clearly distinguished use value and exchange value, and clarified that “labor”

It is the real measure of the exchange value of all commodities, and the "labor time spent in production determines the value".also illustrates the simple

The difference and connection between labor and complex "labour", distinguish between natural price and market price, realize that market price revolves around natural

It is a regular movement that the price fluctuates up and down.This laid the foundation for the labor theory of value.But he also claims:

Using labor to determine value is only applicable to primitive society.Starting from the superficial phenomena of capitalist commodity production, he argues that since

Since the private ownership of land and the accumulation of capital, the value of commodities has not only compensated the wages paid by capitalists to laborers and the wages paid by landowners
In addition to land rent, profits must also be provided to capitalists.Thus the value of commodities must ultimately consist of three parts: wages, profit, and rent.

become.In his view, these three parts are not only the original source of all income, but also the original source of all exchange value.so

, he departed from the labor theory of value and turned to the production cost theory of value.This removes the part of the value of commodities which corresponds to constant capital

The value of is lost.His theory was called "Smith's dogma" by later generations, and became a long-term popular in bourgeois economics.
One of the doctrines of value.

In terms of distribution theory, Smith was the first to clearly divide capitalist society into the landlord class, the capitalist class and the working class.

, and on the basis of the labor theory of value, examines the three incomes of the three classes: rent, profit and wages.According to the value by
The principle determined by the labor expended in production, he held that both rent and profit were nothing more than the addition of the labor of the worker to the value of the raw material
A deduction for the additional amount.He saw that when capital was accumulated in some hands, the value that the laborer added to the material

Hourly payment of wages to workers and payment of profits to the owner of the business as compensation for his wages advanced and total capital of processed materials

.Here he confuses surplus-value with profit.

The trend of profit change is: the increase of capital will raise wages, but will reduce profits, because when capital increases, capitalists compete
Increasingly fierce, profits will decline.Changes in profits can be observed through changes in interest rates, because interest is derived from profits
Yes, the rise and fall of interest rates is consistent with the rise and fall of profits.Historically in the UK, the interest rate set by the state has been declining, which means that

Profits are also declining.

Smith pointed out that rent is the highest price that the tenant can pay according to the actual situation of the land.

He also distinguished between rent and profit,

He pointed out that among the three categories of wages, profit and rent

In terms of income, wages and profits are the factors that determine the price of commodities, that is, the more wages and profits, the higher the prices of commodities.

Land rent is the result of the price of agricultural products, which is equal to the balance of the price of agricultural products after deducting wages and profits. Therefore, land rent
The amount changes in the same direction with the price of agricultural products.

Smith also studied the causes of capital accumulation.He thinks that the direct cause of capital increase is thrift, not hard work, if only hard work

If you work without frugality, you cannot have savings.A man will be frugal if he pursues his own interests.

Smith also criticized mercantilism and physiocratism, and further discussed the significance of economic liberalism.he root

According to the critique of mercantilism's argument that gold and silver money are wealth, it is proposed that wealth does not consist of money, but is bought by money.
Composed of purchased goods.Criticize mercantilism, advocate the idea of ​​state intervention in the economy, and put forward the idea of ​​economic freedom that self-interest is public welfare

, arguing that the policy that allows individual economic freedom is the most beneficial policy for the country.

Criticize the protective tariff thought of mercantilism, and argue that free trade and international division of labor must be implemented.

Criticize the trade balance theory and demonstrate the real benefits of free trade.

Smith criticized the Physiocrats for their use of restrictions
The idea of ​​developing agriculture through industry and domestic and foreign trade.

Finally, "The Wealth of Nations" studies the influence of national fiscal revenue and expenditure on national wealth, emphasizing that a reasonable fiscal system must be adopted so that
A country's income exceeds expenditure, and capital accumulation is promoted to increase national wealth.The government should not interfere with private economic activity, but

The government still has an obligation and a function in this regard.It should defend the security of the country from foreign aggression; maintain social order and protect people

protect the people from bullying and oppression by others; build and maintain public works and utilities.Government expenses include defense, judicial administration

Fees, public works and public agencies, and the maintenance of the dignity of the monarchy.But in his opinion, the cost of maintaining the government is government expenditure

is unproductive and should therefore be compressed as much as possible.bear these costs.Shared by the whole society and related personnel or direct beneficiaries
Same burden.

The costs of government spending come from resources (such as state-owned capital and land) that are publicly owned by the government rather than privately owned by citizens (such as state capital and land) and levied on the people.
taxation.

People describe the publication of "The Wealth of Nations" as "a blockbuster".It was unanimously recognized that this marked a new discipline—political economy

The birth of learning. The great influence of "The Wealth of Nations" at that time made congressmen often

Quotations from "The Wealth of Nations" are often quoted, and once quoted, most of the opponents will not refute. "The Wealth of Nations" was quickly translated into many

The Chinese language was spread abroad, and the governments of some countries took the basic views of "The Wealth of Nations" as a basis when formulating policies.

Smith's economic theory had such a major influence on the production of proletarian political economy.Marx founded the

In the process of realizing his own economic theory and realizing the great transformation of political economy, he absorbed various theories of Smith, especially his
The labor theory of value and the theory of surplus value.

Of course, this book also has shortcomings. Due to the limitations of the author's class and historical conditions, "The Wealth of Nations" has a dual nature.

It was this book that just met the needs of the British industrial bourgeoisie at that time to provide a theoretical basis for laissez-faire economic policies, so

This has been generally valued and praised by the bourgeoisie.

(End of this chapter)